Kunsthalle Bremen in Germany has opened “The Dachshund: An Icon Off the Leash,” an exhibition exploring the breed’s place in art and culture. The show brings together roughly 120 historical and contemporary works and is believed to be the first exhibition devoted exclusively to dachshunds in art.
The exhibition features works by artists including Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Otto Dix and Max Liebermann. Picasso’s pieces include depictions of Lump, the dachshund owned by American photojournalist David Douglas Duncan. Lump lived with Picasso for six years and appeared in the artist’s series reworking Diego Velázquez’s “Las Meninas.”
Hockney painted his two pet dachshunds in 1995. The exhibition also traces the breed’s history: dachshunds were bred in Germany more than 300 years ago to hunt badgers, before becoming familiar companions in aristocratic homes and urban flats.
The show examines the breed’s shifting cultural associations. During the World Wars, dachshunds became associated with Germany, and some American owners called their pets “liberty hounds” amid anti-German sentiment. In 1972, Waldi, a pastel-striped dachshund, became the official mascot of the Munich Olympic Games.
The museum is also making parts of the exhibition accessible to canine visitors. On Thursdays and Saturdays, three of its eight galleries welcome dachshunds and other small dogs for scheduled visits. Dogs must be about one foot or less at the shoulder, reserve a time slot online and check in at a dedicated Dachshund Lounge.
“The Dachshund: An Icon Off the Leash” is on view at Kunsthalle Bremen until March 28, 2027.
Sources: Smithsonian Magazine.